South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"

Women fetch water at a solar-powered water point funded UN agencies in Yambio on 28 September 2023 [Photo: Awan Achiek]
By Awan Achiek
Hundreds of families in Yambio town have been relieved the difficulty of walking long distances to fetch water at congested borehole water points, after the solar-powered water taps were inaugurated recently by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and government.
Afare John, a 28-year-old mother of five, says she had never accessed clean and safe drinking water because she and her neighbors relied on the single borehole in their area to fetch hard borehole water.
She says she used to wait in the long queue for hours to fill her jerry cans and carry them to her home.
“We were suffering to get water in our area because we have few boreholes and sometimes people fight over water, there is a long queue most of the time due to a big number of people looking for water,” John told The Dawn last week during the inauguration ceremony of the solar powered water project.
The comprehensive water supply system comprising of five boreholes, 31 community water kiosks, a 40-kilometre pipeline around the town, and a total storage capacity of 250,000 litres set up by UNICEF with funding from Germany has changed the lives of more than 45,000 residents in Yambio County of Western Equatoria State.
Previously, only 36 percent of the population had access to the limited-capacity water system, while others relied on seasonal and unsafe handpumps. The expansion now serves 83 percent of the total population.
The project constructed by Tekivision General Trading Co.LTD started on 11 December 2021 and was completed on 31st May 2023, costing $ 1.8 million.
The boreholes and pumps are solar-powered reducing the use of diesel generators.
The utility charges range from SSP 25 per 20-liter jerry cane for the community.
“This water point has helped us a lot; it has reduced congestion and unnecessary fights over water. We also urge UNICEF to expand water supply to other areas,” John says.
The solar-pumped water is benefiting managers of kiosks like Boyi Samuel.
“I am the manager of this water. I sell four jerry cans at SSP 100 and this water is helping the residents of this area so much. They are very happy that the water is sold at a cheap price,” Samuel says.
“Before this water point was installed, the residents struggled to get water, and it was sold expensively. Those water distributors were selling one jerry can at SSP 150,” he adds.
Samuel says he earns about 30,000 SSP daily from Yambio Town Urban Water and Sanitation Company which operates the urban water facility.
Until very recently, people in this community consumed water directly from the untreated borehole and suffered the consequences of drinking untreated water.
Waterborne diseases like diarrhea and dysentery were frequent and common causes of death among children.
Another water seller, Luis Peter, who sells water at one of the kiosks, says the water facility has transformed his life as he now earns about 2,000 to 3,000 SSP daily.
“I am selling one jerry can at SSP 25 and four jerry cans at SSP 100. Sometimes I can get SSP 4000 or SSP 3000 per day. When I give SSP 5,000 to Yambio Town Urban Water and Sanitation Company they will give me SSP 2000 and they take SSP 3000,” he says.
Peter says before the solar water point was installed, people were constantly plagued by typhoid.
“What I like about this water is that it is very clean, I also buy from here. I used to get sick of typhoid and malaria whenever I drank from a borehole but after drinking this water I no longer get sick.”
The urban water facility is also benefiting schools and hospitals.
Mbiko Samuel, deputy head teacher of St. Mary Primary School said the clean water is benefiting about 1513 pupils.
“The water point here in the school is going to help us a lot because currently we have 1513 pupils studying in this school,” Samuel says.
He adds that they plan to fill all the water tanks in the school so that learners access enough water.
“In this kind of situation where we have one borehole, it is so challenging but with the connection of this water point, we are going to supply water in all water tanks so that the learners can also get access to water,” Samuel says.
Inipaivura Daniel David, a 17-year-old pupil of St. Mary Primary School says the extension of the urban water facility has improved the lives and health of pupils.
“We have been suffering for some few years due to lack of water in our school. I am very happy to have water in our school,” he says.